Board of TRUSTEES
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State Bar President
Patrick Kelly |
Beginning In 2012, SB 163 (Stats. 2011, ch. 417) changed the governance structure of the State Bar. The State Bar’s governing board, formerly known as the Board of Governors, has been renamed the Board of Trustees. Between January 1, 2012 and October 31, 2014, the board will gradually transition from 23 to 19 members.
As the terms of the members holding office before December 31, 2011, under the old structure, expire and the new members under SB 163 are elected or appointed between 2012 and 2014, the board will gradually transition from the old board of 23-members to the smaller 19-member board selected as follows:
- Six lawyer members elected from new State Bar Districts based on California’s six appellate court districts;
- Five lawyer members appointed by the California Supreme Court;
- Two lawyer members appointed by the Legislature: one by the Senate Committee on Rules and one by the Speaker of the Assembly; and
- Six “public” or nonlawyer members of whom four are appointed by California's Governor, one by the state Senate Committee on Rules and one by the Speaker of the Assembly;
The 2012 – 2013 board includes: 10 elected lawyers from the old State Bar Districts holding office before December 31, 2011; 2 lawyers elected this year by members of the State Bar in the new State Bar Districts described above; two "public" or nonlawyer members as described above; one lawyer member appointed by the California Supreme Court; 1 lawyer member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and the State Bar president, who is elected by the other board members. These members with the current vacancies of four other public members make up the 21 seats of the 2012-2013 board year.
The Board of Trustees meets approximately eight times a year to consider organizational, policy and professional issues. Each meeting is open to the public except for closed sessions that are allowed by law and agendas for the open and closed sessions are posted on the Web site.
The State Bar's open/closed meeting rules are similar to rules governing California's public agencies; the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Govt. Code Sections 11120, et seq.) and the Brown Act (Govt. Code Sections 54950, et seq.)